Means for charging gas-retorts



(No Model.)

, PIBRSON.- MEANS FOR CHARGING GAS RBTORTS.

No. 539,295. Patented May 14, 1895.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY M. PIERSON, or- BROOKLYN, NEW YORK,

MEANS FOR CHARGING GAS-RETORTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 539,295, dated May 14,1895.

Application filed June 25,1894- Serial No. 515,594. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern..- 7

Be it known that I, HENRY M. PIERSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful-Improvement in Means for Charging Gas-Retorts,of which the following is a specification. My present invention isdesigned as an addition to and improvement upon the method described andthe apparatus described and shown in Letters Patent granted to me July5, 1892, No. 478,459, and June 27, 1893, No. 500,424, and the object ofmy present invention is to render more perfect,'efticient, economicaland productive the method and apparatus therein set forth. In saidpatents bituminous coal is distilled continuously in inclined coal gasretorts and the same is converted into red hot coke and coal gas, whichcoal gas contains marsh gas and hydrogen. The coal gas is conveyed awayby suitable pipes to a holder and the red hot coke is employed as fuelin the other parts of the apparatus. The feeding or charging of saidcoal gas retorts quickly and economically is of the greatest importance,and my present invention relates principally to a means foraccomplishing this object. I employ a hopper that is supported above thebench of inclined coal gas retorts, and this hopper is filledcontinuously by any well known automatic coal handling and deliveringmechanism. A discharge pipe and telescopic chute provided with a valvehang by a ball and socket joint from the under surface of said hopper,the valve below the ball and socket joint determining the charge to beplaced in each retort at one delivery, and the telescopic chute providesfor delivering the bituminouslcoal into the retorts of the bench as theyexist one above the other, and this discharge pipe is capable ofabackward and forward movement and is held back by a chain and weightover a fixed pulley, and I prefer to make an opening in the ball of theball and socket joint so that coal is delivered into the discharge pipeover the valve when the pipe is drawn back in a state of rest, saidopening beingclosed when the pipe is drawn forward to deliver the chargeinto the retorts, the valve employed being selfment.

closing, so that after the mouth of the chute is inserted into one ofthe retorts the valve is drawn to deliver the charge of bituminous coalinto the retorts and is then released and closes automaticallypreparatory to receiving above it the next charge of coal as the pipereturns to a normal position.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation and partial-sectionillustrating my improve- Fig, 2 is a vertical section, in larger size,of the telescopic chute; and Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of the valve,also in larger size.

A represents the upper portion of the retort combustion chamber, and Iis the chimney extending therefrom.

e represents the upper higher ends of the coal gas retorts, and f thegas-tight covers thereto.

b represents the hopper for receiving a supply of bituminous coal. Thishopper is shown as supported upon I-beams c 0. These beams may besupported in any desired manner, or the hopper b may be otherwisesupported if found more desirable. is supplied into'the hopper bcontinuously by any well known automatic-coal handling and deliveringmechanism, and as the same forms no part of my present invention it hasnot been illustrated, as any means that willaccomplish this purpose willbe sufficient.

The lower part of the hopper b is provided with a ball b having anopening at one side, and the discharge pipe 01 is provided with a socketjoint (1 encircling the ball I) so that the discharge pipe is flexiblysuspended by the ball and socket joint. This discharge pipe d isprovided with a valve h which is The bituminous coal 1 placed at such adistance below the ball and socket joint according to its area, 'as willinsure the proper amount of coal being received into the discharge pipeat for a single charge into the coal gas retorts. I have shown in Fig. 3a valve suitable for this purposeand will describe. the same, althoughIdo not limit myself to this precise construction.

Two plates 1 2 are provided between the inner edges of which is anannular recess,

these plates being bolted together and the plate 1 is bolted to thelower end of the pipe (1, and the plate 2 is bolted to the upper section1' of the telescopic chute. The U arm 3 extends out horizontally fromthese plates 1 2, and the same is provided with a central opening forthe stem 4 of the plate valve 5. The stem 4 and plate 5 are connectedtegether and are provided with a handle 6, and around the stem 4 is ahelical spring.

It will be apparent that when the handle 6 is grasped and drawnoutwardly against the action of the spring 7, the plate 5 is drawn awayto open up the connection between the pipe (1 and the section 1' of thechute, so that whatever coal may be in the discharge pipe at above theplate 5 is allowed to fall when the plate is withdrawn, and after thecoal falls, the release of the handle 6 permits the spring 7 to act andforce the plate 5 home to place;

The telescopic chute is shown as composed of three sections it" '5 thelower section '6 having a discharge mouth 8 which is adapted to beinserted into the ends of the inclined 'coal gas retorts after theremoval of the gastight covers. The lower ends of the chute sections 2'-and i are provided with external rings 9, and the upper ends of thechute sections Q1 and t are provided with internal rings 10, these ringsforming stops against one another, as shown in Fig. 2, when the sections are extended.

A rope or chain Z is secured at one end to the discharge pipe cl, andits other end is provided with a weight m, and said rope or chain passesover a fixed pulley n, the object of this weight being to draw thedischarge pipe and chute back into the position shown by dot-ted linesin Fig. 1, and this weight is sufficient to slightly overbalance thedischarge pipe and chute and the charge of coal in the discharge pipeabove the valve h; audit willbe noticed that when the discharge pipe andchute are in this dotted position Fig. 1, they are in line with theopening 12 in the ball b, so that in this position the coal runs freelyfrom the hopper 1) into the discharge pipe (1 and fills the same overthe valve h. I prefer to employ a stop 13 on the ballb' to limit thebackward movement and insure the position of the discharge pipe 01.

The attendant in filling any one of the bench of inclined coal gasretorts, stands on the platform 9 and grasps a handle 15 on the lowersection 2' of the chute or other convenient equivalent means, and drawsthe discharge pipe and chute forward toward the coal gas retorts. In sodoing the socketjoint d shuts off the opening 12 inthe ball 5' so thatthe coal in the hopper cannot escape into the discharge pipe. If it isnow desired to fill one of the lower retorts of the bench, the chute isof the properlength as extended. If it is desired to fill the nexthigher retort the lower section 11 is elevated, and if it is desired tofill the highest retort of the bench the sections 71' t are bothelevated by hand so as to introduce the discharge mouth 8 into theretort after removing the gas-tight covers. When this discharge mouth 8is introduced into any one of the bench of retorts, the attendant opensthe valve h by pulling the handle 6, thereby allowing the charge ofbituminous coal to slide down through the discharge mouth into theretort after which the release of the valve permits the spring 7 toclose it, and the release of the pipe and chute permits the weight m todraw the parts back into the normal position wherein a second charge isdelivered from the hopper into the discharge pipe ready for theoperations to be repeated.

It is preferable to employ a ball and socket joint, discharge pipe andtelescopic chute for each set or bench of inclined coal gas retorts,becauseit will be apparent that where there are six retorts in a bench,three deep and in pairs of two,.the discharge pipe and chute can beswung slightly sidewise to provide for discharging the coal into eachone of the retorts composing the bench.

I claim as my invention-'- 1. Inan apparatus for the manufacture of gas,the combination with inclined coal gas retorts and an elevated supplyhopper, of a discharge pipe, a jointed connection between the dischargepipe and the supply hopper, a valve in said discharge pipe located belowthe jointed connection so as to regulate the charge of coal receivedinto the discharge pipe, and a telescopic chute in movable sectionsconnected at the lower end of said discharge pipe, substantially as setforth.

2. In an apparatus for the manufacture of gas, the combination withinclined coal gas retorts and an elevated supply hopper, of a dischargepipe, a ball and socket joint connecting the upper end of the dischargepipe with the lower end of the supply hopper, a valve at the lower endof said discharge pipe so located as to regulate the required charge ofcoal to be received into the discharge pipe, a telescopic chute in threesections, and a discharge mouth for the lower section, and a chain and adevice such as a weight and pulley for drawing back the discharge pipeand chute, substantially as set forth.

3. In an apparatus for the manufacture of gas, the combination withinclined coal gas retorts, an elevated hopper, a discharge pipe, atelescopic chute and a jointed connection between the discharge pipe andthe hopper, of a valve composed of the plates 1 2, the U frame 3, theplate 5, stem 4, the handle 6 at the end of the stem, and the helicalspring 7 around the stem for keeping the valve normally shut,substantially as set forth.

4. In an apparatus for manufacturing gas, thecombination with inclinedcoal gas retorts and an elevated hopper, of the ball 1) connected to thelower end of the hopper and having an opening at one side,.the dischargepipe d and socket joint d, the valve connected with the discharge pipeand the telescopic chute, the fixed pulley, chain and weight, the partsbeing so constructed and arranged that when into the discharge pipe tothe required exthe discharge pipe is placed substantially vertent,substantially as set forth. IO tical to feed the coal gas retorts, thesupply Signedby me this 22d day of June, 1894. of coal from the hopper1s shut 0E, and when M. PIERSON.

the discharge pipe is drawn'back out of the way the opening in the ballis exposed 0r Witnesses: brought into alignment with the discharge GEO.T. PINCKNEY, pipe so that the coal from the hopper fills HAROLD SERRELL.

